


Clear

by normski_reedenstein



Series: You Are Mine [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF
Genre: Broken Families, F/M, Flashbacks, Making Up, Past Infidelity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-15 19:32:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16069826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/normski_reedenstein/pseuds/normski_reedenstein
Summary: Chapter track list:'Shelter' - Birdy: when Loki takes Ashley away for the night'Everybody Got Their Something' - Nikka Costa, 'Storm'- Ivy Sole, 'September' Earth, Wind and Fire: the group driving to/hanging on the beach





	1. Chapter 1

I chewed on my nails as I waited to see that telltale blue sedan pull up in the parking lot. Why the hell was I nervous? Granted it’s been a few months but you would think with the way I was acting, this was our first meeting. Loki was excited for me and couldn't get me out of the house fast enough so I wouldn't be late. I had completely demolished my thumbnail, polish and all, and was working on my index finger next when she finally pulled into view. I took a breath as I watched her get out of the car. She was still pretty as ever; Dark and glittery skin with shiny black hair styled in an asymmetrical bob that complemented a round face and sultry brown eyes. Her full lips were glistening with clear gloss. Like always she managed to make a casual outfit like capri pants, a button down shirt and a camisole tank top coupled with Converse look like something off the runway. When she saw me, she smiled big.

“Hey, baby girl.” Same Southern accent too.

“Hi, Mom.”

I hesitated as she got closer but she pulled me into a hug like it was nothing. I mean, she’s my mom. Of course it was nothing. I was expecting too much negativity instead of focusing on the positive. I was finally seeing my mom again. I squeezed her and inhaled her scent. She always smelled sweet like berries and fresh laundry. And her midsection, long since thickened from birthing me and good eating over the years, was so soft I didn’t want to let go. I always called her My Squishy when I was younger. The memory made me smile.

We pulled apart and Mom looked me up and down. “You look so grown up. Feels like I ain’t seen you in about a year.”

“I know. It's been a while.”

“Ooh and it looks like you’re starting to spread too. That boyfriend of yours must be doing something right.” She laughed.

I felt my brow crease as I gave her a confused look. “I’m starting to spread? What does that mean?”

In all my 18 years, I still wasn’t used to some of my mom’s Southern euphemisms and phrases for stuff. It was one thing I could never help but tease her over.

“It means you’re having sex, baby. And getting thicker from it from the looks of things. Good.”

My jaw dropped. Leave it to my mom to make me feel both mortified and somewhat flattered at the same time.

“Oh my God! Don’t say stuff like that, you’re my mom. That’s weird!” I looked around as if someone could overhear her.

“Girl, please. It’s natural. Stop being a little drama queen and come on. I’m hungry.”  

We walked into the restaurant we agreed to meet at, Gin's Japanese Steak House. Even with my nerves everywhere, I was still pretty hungry. I looked at my mom again and fought the urge to latch onto her like a monkey and never let go. Damn, I didn't realize just how much I missed seeing her. She didn't even seem like she was mad at me. I think I wanted her to be. It would feel right after how we left things. 

Mom and I sat down and ordered our food. I sipped awkwardly at my strawberry limeade. 

"So how you been, baby girl? How's school?" 

"Good. School is school, it has its moments." 

She chuckled. "Can I get a little more than that? I mean damn, it's been three months since you were home. Tell me everything I've been missing. Talk to your momma like you used to." 

She was trying which was more than I could say for myself. I mentally kicked myself.

"Okay. Well, school is good for the most part. Passing my all classes by some unknown miracle. I'm working at Tony's a few days out of the week which isn't bad. Obviously I'm not rolling in money on a waitress salary but it's a job and for a first, it's not terrible. Um...we order our caps and gowns next month. I'm going to pay to get some pictures done if you want in?" 

"Would I really say no to helping my baby with her graduation pictures? Look who you're talking to, of course I want in." I smiled. "Everything sounds good. And what about the boyfriend? Are you two doing alright?" 

Mom didn't know a lot about Loki other than he was my boyfriend, he had his own apartment and he rode bikes. I always kept him relatively secret because he wasn't exactly the ideal guy you bring home to your parents. Not to mention he was two years out of school and dating an only girl. My parents would have flipped shit if they found out any more about him. But for some reason, I didn't feel the need to keep things secret anymore. If Mom freaked out, she freaked out. However she couldn't freak out over her baby girl being treated like a princess by her first serious boyfriend. That's all she ever asked of me when looking for a guy to date.  

"Loki is...perfect. I don't ever get tired of being around him. He's the guy I least expected to ever be attracted to let alone date but he snuck under the radar I guess." 

Laughing, Mom sipped her wine. "The good ones always do." 

"I met his mom the other weekend and that was better than I expected. His whole family is just awesome and he's so loving and he protects me and..." 

I rambled on about Loki for what felt like ages and my mom watched me with the biggest smile on her face. I talked about the dates we had been on, things he bought for me when he had no reason to, how supportive he is of me. I knew I was beaming with every sentence, practically gushing but what could I say? I was in love.  I wasn't even nervous when I told her I would introduce her to Loki soon. It just slipped out but I gave it no second thought. I missed this. I missed _her_. However, we couldn't keep talking about my boyfriend forever. There was the one subject we hadn't yet covered.  

"Mom, you know I didn't just want to meet up to talk about me and Loki, right?" 

She smiled and took a sip of her wine. "I figured there was more to this. Can I ask what?" 

"Take a guess." 

Placing her hands on the table, Mom sighed and regarded me warmly. "Your dad?" 

"Specifically what happened between us as a result of dad. I'm ready to talk about it." 

"Okay." She said nothing further but ushered me to continue.

I took a deep breath and slowly opened my mouth. 

* * *

 

 

_I remember it felt like I couldn't breathe. My whole body had gone cold and numb. I wished then that I had never answered my dad's phone. The voice of the woman on the other end just kept playing repeatedly in my head._

_Dad and I were out on one of our infamous father-daughter dates. First lunch and then a movie. We had just left from eating lunch and now I felt like it was all about to come right back out. He had stopped at an ATM to get some money when his phone rang._

_"Answer that for me, Ash," he said as he focused on pushing the right buttons._

_I picked up the phone and answered. "Hello?"_

_"Is Derek there?"_

_"Can I ask whose calling?"_

_"His girlfriend, Carla."_

_'His girlfriend, Carla.'_

_His girlfriend, Carla._

_His girlfriend._

_Girlfriend._

_Dad was still hanging out the window as he asked, "Who is it?"_

_"Hello?" The woman said on the other line of his phone. "I really have to speak to Derek. Is he there?"_

_Somehow I managed to find the end button and hang up on her. Quietly, I sat the phone down and stared blankly out the windshield. Dad finished his transaction and pulled his head back inside his window. "Who was on the phone?"_

_My throat felt tight. I didn't even want to form my mouth to make the words come out. I wanted to melt through my seat and into the Earth._

_Fuck._

_"You have a girlfriend?" I asked simply._

_I couldn't look at his face for fear of what I would see there. I wanted it to be a lie. I was mentally begging for it. He was silent for a moment and that was all I needed for my fear to be realized._

_"Shit."_

_That was all he said before he drove away from the ATM._

_We skipped the movie and went straight home. The drive was quiet the whole time. I wanted him to say something but maybe that would have been worse than his silence. I didn't want to know anything about this other woman or how long my dad had apparently been with her. And then something else hit me even harder: did Mom know?_

_I felt stupid as soon as I thought it. Of course she didn't know. All she knew was her husband of 18 years was a faithful man that she loved deeply. I wanted to tell her so bad. God, just picturing the look on her face was breaking my heart. As we pulled up in the driveway of our house, Dad decided then he wanted to break the silence._

_"Don't say anything to your mom, okay?"_

_I looked at him as if he had lost his fucking mind because he did. Was he actually serious? I'm sure he saw the look of disgust on my face before I got out of the car, slammed the passenger door shut and stomped toward the house ready to spill my guts to my mother. I could hear my dad trying to hurry and follow behind me. I was through the front door and making my way to the stairs._

_"Y'all are back early. No movie?" Mom asked from the living room. She had a book in hand and a glass of sweet tea like usual._

_I stopped at the bottom step trying hard to keep my composure. Dad stopped too but of course, he stayed cool for his own good._

_"No, there was nothing good out."_

_"Oh. Well, we got plenty of movies here. Lets make it a family movie night, huh? Baby girl, that sound good to you?"_

_My body was starting to sweat. I wanted to vomit and go sit on the toilet at the same time. For the first time in my life, I hated my dad. I turned around and looked him dead in the eye and I could tell then that he could see it. I could see the brown eyes I'd inherited begging mine to keep quiet. But I couldn't. I wouldn't. Fuck him and fuck Carla. My mom needed to know the truth just like I did._

_"You want to tell her or should I?" My voice was low and shaking with unshed tears and anger._

_Dad shifted on his feet and Mom scrunched her eyebrows in confusion at me. "Tell me what?"_

_I stared my father down daring him to lie in front of me. He was visibly getting uncomfortable._

_"Come on, Dad. Tell her."_

_Mom looked between me and Dad, her book abandoned on the coffee table. "Derek, what do you have tell me?"_

_Rage boiled inside me the longer he stayed quiet. If I had the strength to strangle him, I would have. He stared at me with a silent plead in his wide eyes. He could lie to us but couldn't fess up to it? I wouldn't stand for it. I don't remember standing close enough to the end table by the stairs to grab something and throw it in my dad's general direction but I did._

_"FUCKING TELL HER OR I WILL!" I screamed at the top of my lungs._

_Both my parents jumped at my sudden outburst. I was huffing by that point, my breath coming out too fast for me to catch._

_"Ashley, what is the matter?" Mom asked as she made her way to me._

_"Ask him. He doesn't want to be a man and tell the truth. We can stand here all day until you, Dad. Your choice." My voice dripped venom._

_"Derek," my mom looked at him. "Why is she so upset? What do you need to tell me? Just say it."_

_He let out a shaky breath as he started towards us. "Colleen, you know I love you. You know I love you both. You know that, right? This is not what you think."_

_"What isn't what I think? You're not...what, are you cheating on me or something?" Mom said it half jokingly but I could tell she already knew the answer. We all could._

_Dad just hung his head. "I'm sorry."_

_"Bullshit," I spat. I turned to Mom. "Her name is Carla. She called while we were in the car. I answered since someone wasn't smart enough to at least have his side piece call a different number and boy, did I feel fucking stupid!"_

_With each word out of my mouth, the look on my mother's face fell further and further and the hurt in her eyes became more prominent._

_"How long?" she asked after what felt like an eternity._

_Giant tears fell from Dad's eyes. I wanted to slap him then, tell him he had no right to cry. He wasn't the one being hurt._

_"Two years."_

_The sound my mom made was something between a laugh and a sob._

 

_That was just the beginning._

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter track list:  
> 'Shelter' - Birdy: when Loki takes Ashley away for the night  
> 'Everybody Got Their Something' - Nikka Costa, 'Storm'- Ivy Sole, 'September' Earth, Wind and Fire: the group driving to/hanging on the beach

_I was angry._

_Mom was angry._

_Dad kept apologizing._

_We all sat in that living room for five hours crying, screaming and just watching our family shatter with no way to fix it. We couldn't stop it and we couldn't go back in time. By the end, Mom had kicked Dad out and we were all exhausted. I remember going up to my room and collapsing into my bed. I didn't take my shoes off or change my clothes. I cried for my broken family, my dad's infidelity, my mom's pain, my life as I knew it changing so dramatically. I remember hearing my mom sobbing as she came upstairs and passed my door on the way to her room. I didn't want to be in this house anymore. It was no longer happy and full of love. Why would I want to stay here? I grabbed my phone and dialed Loki's number. After two rings, he answered._

_"Hey, babe."_

_There was a smile in his voice._ _I wanted to smile too but I just couldn't. "I need you to come pick me up, please. I can't be home right now."_

_"What's wrong?"_

_I took a deep breath to cover the sob rising in my chest. "Too much. I don't want to talk about it now. Can you just come?"_

_Loki told me to pack a bag and be outside waiting for him to pull up in 15 minutes. Mom never heard me sneak out and I didn't leave a note.  By the time Loki got to my house in his car, I was starting to feel so tired. I was still crying but at this point, the pain was a dull sting and it felt more like my eyes were leaking. He didn't ask me what was wrong surprisingly. He must have known that I would tell him when I was ready. Instead, he held my hand and drove. I thought we were going to his apartment but we wound up on the interstate driving for what felt like hours. I stared blankly out my window, my feet pulled up underneath me._

_It was midnight by the time we wound up at some hotel. Loki grabbed my bag and his, checked us in and led us to our room. We were on a beach, the tide crashing over sand just feet away from the open patio door just by the bedroom. I instantly made a beeline to the giant bed made up perfectly with a small bouquet sitting on the fold of the comforter. Kicking off my shoes, I burrowed under the sheets and inhaled the mixed scents of fresh laundry, salty air and flowers. I listened to Loki fiddle around before the mattress depressed behind me and his hand rested on my hip._

_"Rest my girl. I love you."_

_I said nothing in response but he knew I loved him too. And I was thankful for an escape. I was asleep within minutes. When I woke up, I had no idea what day it was and I had momentarily forgotten where I was and what transpired the day before. Then it all hit me at once: Dad, the blowout, Loki sweeping me up and bringing me to... where?_

_I sat up and looked around the room. Evening was setting in outside and the room was empty, quiet. The waves had settled since this morning and it was nearly silent outside. I got up to use the bathroom and wash the sleep from my eyes. When I looked in the mirror I was nearly scared shitless by what I saw looking back at me; Dark, puffy eyes rimmed red, wild hair sticking in every direction on one side and matted down on the other. I looked like I had been worked over and in the worst fight of my life but there wasn't a scratch on me. I heard the door open outside._

_"Baby?" Loki called out._

_I left the bathroom and found Loki in the dining area with bags of food in hand._

_"Hey," I said, my voice cracked and hoarse. It sounded nothing like mine._

_Looking up from setting the food on the table. Loki smiled at me. "Well good morning. You look beautiful as ever."_

_"Shut up," I said as I tried to smooth my hair down. "How long was I asleep?"_

_Loki began taking food out of the bags. "We got here after midnight, you passed out around 12:15 or so and now it's..." he paused to look at his phone. "6:48 pm. You were definitely out for longer than I'm used to. I was a little worried."_

_"Why didn't you wake me up?"_

_"You were exhausted. And now I assume you're hungry. You have a choice between breakfast or dinner courtesy of one of the best hotel kitchens ever."_

_My stomach rumbled as the smell of food finally hit me. I went over to the table and looked over all the plastic containers. Waffles, bacon and sausage, eggs and hash browns sat on one side of the table while a fat gourmet bacon cheeseburger and fries sat on the other side. It all smelled so good I could feel myself salivating._

_"I'll take the burger."_

_Loki pulled out my chair for me and took his seat opposite me. We started digging into our meals. I took a bite of a still piping hot french fry._

_"Where are we by the way?"_

_Loki cut up his waffles in the precise way he wanted them. "A secret place we stayed at a few times growing up. When Mom would do her trips for her photography, we would crash here. The Shore is its name. It's one of the best hotels I've ever stayed in. Thought it was perfect for a little getaway."_

_I nodded as I glanced outside again at the sunset over the beach. It was a beautiful and completely unexpected in the state we lived in. It was so quiet I wondered if anyone else was staying here. It was peaceful. Exactly what I needed._

_"Thank you, Lo."_

_He looked at me as he readied his first bite. "You're welcome."_

_I smiled for the first time in a day and enjoyed my dinner in silence. The rest of the night consisted of Loki and I lounging around and me finally confessing what happened last night. He looked so hurt when I told the story. He held my hand the whole time and listened to me describe the pain I felt telling Mom and the pure hatred I felt towards my dad. I remember him saying I had every right to be angry and, if he knew where me dad was staying at that moment, he would track him down and kick his ass. That made me smile._

 

 

_I fucked up by not letting my mom know I was two hours away from home spending the night in a hotel with Loki. Needless to say she was definitely not happy with not hearing from me for the day, especially after what happened at home. Loki practically sped all the way home and I wasn't exactly looking forward to talking with my mom. Once I got inside, she was meeting me at the door with a mix of worry and anger in her eyes._

_"Where were you?" she asked._

_"I stayed over Amanda's house," I lied. "I'm sorry I didn't text or call. I was tired."_

_"You know better than that,  Ashley. Don't make me worry!"_

_"Okay. I said sorry, Mom. It won't happen again." I didn't mean to sound so snippy in my response but it came out that way. Big mistake._

_"Watch your tone, girl," she warned before walking towards the kitchen._

_"I don't have a tone," I snapped._

_Mom stopped and spun on her heels to look at me as if I misspoke. "Sure sounds like it."_

_"I don't." I sighed. I felt anger bubbling up. I wasn't in the mood to argue but it felt like she was trying to push my buttons. "Why are you so mad?"_

_"Just go to your room," Mom waved me away dismissively._

_I was treading some paper thin ice but in my mindset, I didn't care. If she was unreasonably angry, I would be too. Inheriting her temper was more a curse than a blessing sometimes. I dropped my bag at the bottom of the stairs and took a step in my mom's direction._

_"No seriously, Mom. Any other time you wouldn't be reacting like this. I hardly ever forget to let you know where I am and in the few instances I have, you've pretty much let it slide. 'Don't do it again, please' is what I get at the most. I go out for one day and slip up and now you're treating me like a little preteen again."_

_"Ashley please. I'm not in the mood. Fix your attitude and go upstairs right now."_

_But I refused and kept pushing. My voice rose, her voice rose louder. We were nearly in each other's faces after a minute. I don't know when the hurtful words came into play or who threw the proverbial first punch but a line had most definitely been crossed when I asked who Mom was more mad at: me or Dad. To make it worse, I aimed where it would really hurt her._

_"Maybe Dad had a reason to do what he did in the first place."_

_The way her jaw dropped let me know I had hit way below the belt. Her eyes filled with tears but she was quick to compose herself as she clenched her jaw._

_"Get out of my fucking sight," she said through gritted teeth._

_"I'll do you one better. You don't have to worry about me staying in this God forsaken house tonight or tomorrow for that matter."_

_"That's fine. That's real mature in fact. Just leave. Abandon your family. Like father, like daughter, huh?"_

_That hit me in my chest, made me pause to absorb her words._

_"Fuck this. I'm gone."_

_I stomped up the stairs to pack a gym bag full of clothes, toiletries and a few other essentials. Mom was nowhere in sight when I made my way back downstairs but I made sure, wherever she disappeared to, she could hear me slam the front door hard enough to make the windows shake. In my rage I kept walking until clarity sunk in enough for me to realize I didn't know where I was going. My head was beginning to pound and my throat hurt. My eyes were burning but I wasn't certain whether or not I would cry. I dug my phone out of my pocket and called Loki._

_As expected, he answered after a couple rings. "Baby?"_

_"I'm at the corner of Broad and Main. Can you come get me?"_

_"Is everything okay?"_

_"I just need a break. From home, my mom, my dad. I just...I need a break," I said, defeated._

_"I'm on my way. Stay where you are."_

* * *

 

"I overreacted that day when I left. I was just pissed about the whole situation with Dad and I think some of that anger got displaced on you when it shouldn't have and caused me to turn away from the only other person who was in pain just like I was. Instead of keeping calm and talking to you when I was ready like I should have, I ran away to try and cope and that was wrong. Not to mention the shit I said to hurt you. So, I'm sorry. I ended up convincing myself you no longer cared about me because...I don't know, maybe that made it just a little easier to process some anger. On some level I thought if Dad no longer gave a shit, neither did you." 

Mom gave me a sympathetic smile and moved her chair next to mine at the table. "Baby girl, I'm sorry too. I knew you were mad. I was mad, too. I played my hand in pushing you away but believe me, that was far from intentional. We both acted out and I wish I had done a better job as a mom in keeping you home so we could deal with things together. You are all I have now and trust me when I say these last few months have not been easy. I've wanted to break down and call you so many times but I wanted to let you get to this point because I understood you were just going through the motions. You needed to handle the situation in your own way and you needed some space to do it. But please know, I was never mad at you. I never stopped caring for you and I never will. I'm just happy you finally got to where you are now. I wanted nothing more than for you to be able to talk to me again." 

"I'm sorry I hurt you," I said meekly. 

Putting her arm around my shoulder, she hugged me to her side. "It's alright, baby girl. I still love you, I always will."

My eyes stung with oncoming tears. "I love you too, Mom." 

Our waiter approached with our food effectively breaking up our mother/daughter moment but I finally felt better than I had in the last few months. I had my best, most important friend back. I had my mom again. Things felt okay for once. We ate our lunch and carried on talking about any and everything as if nothing had changed. Dad had tried to talk to Mom a few times since she had told him to leave home. The only time he came back was to get his things. As far as she knew, he was staying at a motel but I wouldn't be surprised if he was living with Carla. And since he was gone, Mom no longer wanted to live in our house. I tried all I could to convince her to stay there but she reasoned that with just one person paying the bills, it would be too much money to keep the house so she was actively searching for an apartment. It would suck saying goodbye to my childhood home but I understood. Demons had made a home there anyway. 

We talked for an hour and half and somewhere in the conversation I managed to work in the fact that I wasn't actually living with Amanda like she thought but I had sort of all but moved in Loki. Surprisingly, she didn't react how I thought she would. She was the tiniest bit miffed that I hadn't disclosed it sooner but she asked if I was happy and being treated right. As I thought, that was all that really mattered to her in the end. As we parted ways in the parking lot, I promised her I would come back home to wrap up my last month and half of the school year. I was so happy I felt like nothing could destroy my good mood. But of course, with my luck happiness was kind of temporary. I was driving back to Loki's when my phone started to ring. The caller ID showed a number I didn't recognize but I answered anyway. 

"Hello?" 

"Hey, Ash. How are you?" 

My heart skipped and not in the good way. "...Dad?"  

 

I was seeing red by the time I pulled up in front of the garage. Loki was helping Thor and Steve with a car. They all smiled and greeted me as I approached. It took a second for them to register that I was fuming. 

"Baby what's up? Was everything okay with your mom?" 

"Things with my mom are perfect now. It's what just happened after lunch with my mom that has me ready to fucking kill someone," I said as I paced the driveway. 

Loki wiped his hands and walked over to me forcing me to stop and look at him. Thor and Steve had stopped working to hear what I had to say too. 

"What happened?" Loki asked. 

I didn't even want to say the words. I was still trying to process them without wanting to puke. 

* * *

_"How are you, kid? It's been a minute. I missed your voice."_

_I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine."_

_"Everything okay in school?"_

_"Yes." I made sure I kept my answers short and clipped. He was wasting my time by trying to talk to me._

_"Are you working yet?"_

_"Dad, I'm a little busy. Do you need something?"_

_"Uh... well, I just wanted to talk to my baby girl. See how she was doing."_

_"She's fine. And she doesn't really want to talk to you so if this isn't important, I'm hanging up now."_

_I went to press End when Dad stammered on the other end. "Okay, okay. I just wanted to share some information with you."_

_"Which is?" I asked with an exasperated sigh._

_This had better be fucking good news._

_"You're, uh... you're going to be a big sister."_

_I paused for a moment, my eyebrows knitting together. "What?"_

_"Yeah, you're going to have a half brother in five months."_

_A pit formed in my stomach and my ears felt numb and hot at the same time. Then, in a flash, the anger came rushing up like a speeding car hitting me with a ton of force._

_"So Carla's pregnant, huh? Congratulations. Why are you telling me this?"_

_"I thought you should know. You're going to be a big sister," he repeated._

_"Oh! Oh, I'm going to be a big sister to the child of the woman you were secretly fucking for two years? That's news you thought I should know? Why on Earth would you think I would care about this and how in the hell am I supposed to be happy that not only did you fuck up our family over this woman but now you've knocked her up and I'm just supposed to accept that this new kid is going to be, to quote you, 'my half brother'?!"_

_I could hear him sigh. I don't remember my dad inheriting a stupid gene and suddenly forgetting how to be a decent man but it sure was running rampant now. "Ash, I understand if you're still mad but listen..."_

_"No, you listen. You made the decision to cheat with this woman. You made the decision to ruin 18 years. And apparently you made the decision to go raw so excuse me if I don't give a single flying fuck in the universe if this bitch is having your child. In no way is it my half anything and for you to sit up here and have the audacity to call me and tell me this as if I'm supposed to be over the moon or some shit is beyond fucking stupid. I don't care about you and Carla and little baby infidelity you got cooking in her uterus right now. I don't. Fucking. Care. And from this moment forward, you are not to ever call me again. Lose my number. Forget I'm your daughter. Forget I even exist. If you no longer had a place in my life three months ago, you certainly don't have a place in my life now. Have a nice day, Derek."_

_I was so mad when I hung up, I smashed my phone against the dashboard and proceeded to scream until my throat hurt._

* * *

The guys looked at me in shock as I retold the story, practically yelling the entire time. 

"It's like he is insisting on fucking our lives up more than he did. I mean who the fuck does that?!" I asked to none of them in particular. I had resumed pacing by then. "Now I have to tell my mom that her soon to be ex husband is expecting a kid with his mistress. Fucking piece of shit!" 

Loki grabbed me and pulled me into his body for a hug. I was still mad but I automatically began to calm some in his hold. He had a weird power when it came to easing tension. 

"Just breathe, baby. Don't worry about him. He wants a reason for you to forgive him and you have every right not to. That's his business now, his own predicament to worry about. What goes on in your father's life no longer concerns you or your mother. You're here, you and your mother are speaking again. Everything is fine, okay?" 

I nodded and tried to get my heart rate to settle. 

"Anything we can do to help you feel better, kid?" Steve asked. 

"I don't know. I'm not old enough to go to bars yet so that basically rules out what I'd like to do more than anything right now." 

The guys smirked at me. 

"How about we all just go out and do something else later? Maybe the movies or we can all go downtown, see what trouble we can stir up with the college kids." 

"That sounds kinda fun," I admitted. 

"Tell you what," Loki said, tilting my head back to look up at him. "Why don't us guys and Amanda plan something and surprise you later?" 

I didn't care for surprises but they were helping. I didn't have the heart to tell them not to. 

"Fine. It better be good though." 

"Come on, who are you talking to?" Loki smiled and gave me a peck on the forehead.  

 

 

Around the stroke of dusk, I had changed into comfortable shorts and a tee shirt while Loki packed a backpack with drinks and snacks. We were to meet the others at Amanda's place before going to whatever destination they had picked out for me. After a few minutes we were off. Steve was packing a cooler in the back of Amanda's Jeep while she loaded up blankets when we pulled up in her driveway. Thor showed up with Jane in tow shortly after. While Loki and I took the backseat of the Jeep, Thor followed in his car. Off we were speeding down the interstate, music blasting through the car speakers. Steve was screwing with Amanda while she drove which earned him her famous painful pinches. Meanwhile Thor was egging on a race along an empty stretch which he lost in his not so faithful SUV. I laughed at my friends antics. This was nothing new but it never failed to entertain. 

The sun had dipped behind the horizon when we pulled up at a beach. It wasn't just any beach though. Past memories came flooding back and a smile found me. I looked to Loki who returned my smile. We all filed out of the cars, unloaded our supplies and found a spot a good distance away from the tide. Thor got a fire going while I helped Amanda lay out the blankets. Soon enough, we were all circled around a warm fire with a speaker playing music while our voices mingled loudly across the beach. I was laying back against Loki who was laughing heartily at a story Steve was sharing and sipping a beer. I looked around at all their faces. My friends, my rocks, my support system. I don't know where I would be had they not come into my life. 

Loki combed his fingers through my hair. "Is this helping at all?" 

I tilted my head back to look at him. "More than you know." 

He smiled and kissed me. It was then I knew everything would be okay. I had everything and everyone I could ever need in my life. That-- _this_ \-- was enough.  

"I love you guys," I said over the music. 

Everyone looked at me with a soft smile. 

"We love you too, sweet pea," said Manda. 

They all raised their drinks in a toast to me. We partied on the beach for hours and I couldn't stop smiling by the time we left. Loki was right. Everything was fine. 

 


End file.
